"No you don't get it."

"Which part I'm not getting?"

"He is my boss. My boss. MY BOSS."

"You already repeated that enough times, Eren. I don't see why that's a problem."

"Because…" Eren covered his face with his hands, a sudden urge to claw his face off rose in him but he suppressed it, albeit hardly.

"Because he is still amazing. Apparently now he has a PhD, published books that are read in university courses. He learnt three more languages in the five years we didn't see each other. He is goddamn ripped… When did he find the time to work out for God's sake?! And he wears suits, Armin! He wears suits even though there is no dress code. He is great at his job even if pissy and everyone reveres him and he is just… Uh. He's fuckin' perfect, alright? Why is he perfect?! It's so unfair."

"Eren… he is 160 centimetres tall."

"Yeah, 160 centimetres of perfection though."

"I don't get it… if you're so infatuated with him, why is it a bad thing that he's your boss?"

"Because I should not be infatuated with him. Because we broke up. Because he's still an asshole. Because he is my boss and screwing with him would be screwing with my career. Because I'm apparently hired to sub for Petra, who'll soon leave for maternity leave and she's his right hand and… God… I can't imagine working with him closely."

"Is he that bad?"

"About work? He's a freakin' workaholic. He's so staunch about every little task… But he gets the job done… I mean it will be hell but I'll probably learn a lot…"

"So what's the problem again?"

"Ugh… You don't get it!"

Eren hurled himself over Armin who was sitting on the couch and positioned his head on the blond's lap so that he could get the much needed tender love and care. Armin giggled with amusement and started combing his friend's unruly locks of earth brown,

"Yeah… Maybe I don't. Why did you guys break up anyway? You don't seem to… hate him at all."

"It was complicated."

"That sounds… lame."

"Yeah it does."

Eren closed his eyes for a second to gather his thoughts and adjusted his ears to the calming rhythm of Armin's breathing. His friend always soothed him. How dearly he wished Mikasa was around too… Though he was not sure if he could have a talk like this if Mikasa was with them. Hell, she would probably drive to the office and maim Levi with all kinds of office supplies she found. Considering the yell he received from his satanic overlord for spelling an author's name wrong the other day, the idea of his sister assaulting his once-lover now-manager did not sound overtly repulsive.

"We… we were just in different phases of our life, I guess? Like… we had different priorities. I was more worried about submitting my assignment before the deadline or if I can change my shift at work to attend a protest… and he was worried about his master's thesis fitting in with the topic he wanted to study in his PhD.

"Like… I don't know, we were both so stubborn. He preferred listening to opera or classic rock and snorted at my love of dubstep. He found my fan fiction addiction silly while he read his oh-so-important Continental Philosophy… He kept calling me a 'kid'."

Eren sighed again and Armin rubbed his thumb over the soft skin of his nape.

"I can remember some of those bits…"

"Yeah… I mean… It's not like he actually belittled me. And I was kind of a brat. It was just… We were so different. He was trilingual. He was regarded as a prodigy in Classics. He was translating Euripides to Japanese and Murakami to French for fun and I was… I was writing smut fics for friends for fun. I felt insecure around him but never got the courage to admit it. I think we just drifted apart?"

"So you guys just… amicably broke up? I always thought he was the one to dump you, given Mikasa's attitude then. You didn't want to talk about it either…"

"Well in a technical sense, yeah, I guess he dumped me. He was the one who said 'by the way I'll be doing my PhD at Oxford so I'm gonna be around only for two more months' out of blue one day…"

"So he did dump you?"

"Not really. If he didn't leave then, I would probably. I told him that too… That we weren't working out. He said he thought the same. There were no hard feelings, really."

"But you liked him?"

Eren sighed again but instead of fatigue it was tinted with pleasant nostalgia.

"Yeah, I liked him… I think… I think he liked me too."

"Hmm…" Armin hummed, massaging Eren's scalp with his fingertips, "so why is it bad that he's now your boss again?"

"Because he's still Shortie Dreamy McDreamy whereas I am… I'm still a loser, Armin."

"Well you still listen to dubstep."

"God! It is a valid choice of music. What is wrong with you music snobs?!"

"I'm just kidding..."

"I know…"

Eren huffed, Armin giggled. A few seconds later the blond spoke again, each syllable emphasised:

"Eren, you're not a loser."

"Well… I was just starting to think so too, then I had to meet him again and realise just how much I suck still… I don't even compare to what he was my age and he has just gone ahead and become even better. He even has a fancy car."

"I'm sure he has his own insecurities too."

"Like what? 'Oh damn, my muscle structure is too flawless', or 'why the fuck I'm so accomplished'?"

"I bet he's conscious of his height."

"Okay that might be true, but regardless of what he thinks of it, I think his short stature kind of gives him this quirky attractiveness…"

"You just have a thing for short guys."

"Guilty as charged… Maybe. I don't know. Wait a second, I think he's actually the only short guy I ever dated…"

Armin leaned in and gave a soft peck on his friend head, drawing a much satisfied grin from Eren.

"You got a great job. The fact that he has moved to good places in his career doesn't change you're doing well… Why are you even comparing yourself to him? Also… if he was so good at academia, such a prodigy in his field, why is he in publishing?"

Ah that I'd like to know as well…

Eren hurriedly turned around on Armin's lap so that he could face his friend,

"Exactly! I have no idea… Like as if he wanted to shove his success in my face or something. He knew I was big on becoming an editor but he was never interested in it himself. He wanted to be in academia and was already well-published even though he was just doing his MA. He should have stayed there."

"It's interesting… Maybe he couldn't make it in academia…"

Eren snorted, "I doubt he could 'not make it' anywhere…"

Armin looked at his friend with a knowing smile,

"You know Eren, I think maybe one of the reasons you felt so insecure then was because you idolised him too much… He's human too. I'm sure he has his own issues and failures. Maybe you should try to focus on that and you won't feel so inferior or tense around him in the office? Might help you when Petra is gone and you're stuck with him."

Eren gave a puzzled look at his friend, not fully convinced with the argument; nevertheless he nodded, Armin being a genius and himself being miserably mediocre, maybe his friend had a point… Maybe Levi was not as perfect as he seemed.

A memory surfaced in his mind, of Levi trying to cook but spectacularly failing, complaining about how much money had gone for the groceries while they had cleaned the burned pots and thrown the inedible results to the garbage… They had ended up eating canned tomato soup like Eren had initially suggested, but as Levi had continued grumbling colourfully about the whole endeavour and his French genes betraying him, Eren had laughed and choked on his soup more than he ate of it.

Indeed, maybe his neat-freak little ex with an emotionless face and piercing eyes was not so perfect.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Who wrote this week's spotlight blog entry?"

Eren jumped on his seat at the sharp tone, Levi suddenly bursting into the cafeteria while everyone else at the table stopped eating and turned to stare at Eren upon hearing Levi's words. He gulped. Then proceeded to choking because shit, how stupid are you Eren, gulping so absentmindedly while eating, God, I'm gonna die… He quickly downed the full glass of water in front of him while Petra rubbed his back concernedly.

"I guess that answers you question?" Erd glanced at Levi, who simply sighed.

"You don't have to shit your pants every time I talk to you Jaeger."

The comment only caused Eren to choke on the water while Erd and Gunther started snickering and Levi scowled hard.

"I—I'm sorry, sir," he managed between coughs as he tried to get his breathing back to normal, "was there something wrong with it?"

Levi loudly "tch"ed before starting, words coming between his gritted teeth like insults despite the fact that they were far from negative;

"First of all, stop calling me 'sir', for fuck's sake, we're not in the army. I was just going to say that it was a good call… Theme fits the current events and the writing was witty."

"Oh…"

Okay. Levi. Complimenting. Fucking Levi Ackerman is complimenting me. Not that he never complimented me before but it was more about my eyes being "infuriatingly bright" or my blowjob skills being "too good for an inexperienced brat". But never my writing. Well, he did once say it was "not bad" when he proofread my assignment but does that even count as a compliment? Probably does in his level of human communication.

"Are you done with daydreaming?"

Eren's eyes widened with realisation and he slumped, his lips pursing into a tiny frown and without thinking about it clearly he spilled: "Y-yeah…"

Petra snorted beside him and he tried to glare at her intimidatingly though he doubted he could ever manage that when he himself was under a tired glower from Levi.

"God… Just. Write the next week's too. Also, continue with theme of war but delve into mourning. Butler will be coming the week after for an interview, I'm thinking we can talk about that and maybe make it this month's theme or something… You'll be there too."

"Bu-butler?"

"Yeah."

"Judith Butler?!"

"Yes?"

"Shit."

Eren almost fell from his chair causing Erd to burst into laughter, Gunther holding his stomach, and Petra giggling as her hand covered her face. Levi rolled his eyes.

"If you're getting a boner just from the thought, I'm not letting you in on the interview then."

"What?! Fuck, no, I mean—I – "

Eren stopped. He was digging his own grave, deeper and deeper. He took a deep breath, then exhaled and looked Levi determinedly, which somehow caused the older man's eyes to gleam in recognition of something that Eren was unsure of.

"I'd be glad to be of assistance and I will surely be professional, sir."

"Eren?"

"Yes?"

"Drop the 'sir' or I swear to God I'll drop you off the roof."

Well you loved when I called you 'sir' during kinky D/s play but suddenly you don't like it anymore huh, you miniature dickhead. Maybe you can start treating me with ease and I won't get all tense and spew such bollocks, fucking uptight asshat.

Eren smiled with poison, his narrowed eyes holding obvious contempt, and replied in a mock sweet tone: "Yeah, sure."

Levi visibly flinched and his face took a sour expression – even sourer than his usual that everyone in the small cafeteria exchanged gazes between their superior and the newbie author's editor. Levi nodded than, as if assuring something to himself (Eren hoped it was assuring himself that murdering Eren would be too much trouble and totally not worth it because yeah, he really wanted to live another day, preferably two more weeks because heck I am not going to miss the chance of meeting Butler). When Levi turned on his feet and left the room, the temperature had definitely fell a few degrees.

"You know," Petra smiled impishly, "I'll really be missing all this delicious UST when I'm on maternity leave…"

Eren sighed and closed his eyes, fatigue covering every inch of his body though he was also hyped for the prospect of not only writing another blog post for their popular web site but also meeting one of his favourite philosophers.

"It's more like… UMT."

"UMT?"

"Unresolved Murderous Tension."

Everyone laughed and Eren couldn't keep a small smile from creeping its way onto his lips either.